I have a tendency to make things more complicated than they need to be. These are my stories.

Look What I Can’t Do!

I feel right now as if I am at the beginning of an extended after-school special about the dangers of over-stretching. I know this hamstring injury and its (probably protracted) recovery will be a big old learning experience, but I am still not exactly interested in the tedium to come between now and The Moral of the Story.

But then, this is not 80’s teen edutainment, is it? It’s life. It’s yoga. It’s connective tissue. I may not be ready to go looking for life’s grand message(s) in my bum semitendinosus just yet, but I know I need to keep alert for when it (they) come.

In the meantime, I’m inventorying the things I can and can’t do. Now that the initial swelling is down, I can walk pretty well. That’s a big plus, since Spring finally decided to grace us with her sunny presence this week! Either the walking I did yesterday, or the sneakers I did it in, bothered my broken toe (I’d honestly forgotten all about that thing), so I’ll need to do some experimentation with footwear so I can keep ambulatory. I do love a long walk.

So that’s something. That’s a pretty big thing, actually.

As for yoga, I’ve found lots of seated work I can do – anything that does not involve legs straight and forward, basically. Belly backbends are IN. Bridge is IN. Core work is definitely IN. Standing poses with the bad leg back are fine; with the bad leg forward, they’re weak and achy, so I think I’ll skip them another couple of days until I can talk to Physical Therapist about them.

Uttanasana is OUT. So very far out. Probably months out. A standing forward fold brings on a sensation not unlike what I imagine it would be to have a raccoon burrow through your thigh looking like it was a campsite garbage bag. So we’ll put a pin in that, so to speak, and check back in in a few weeks.